conduit

[George Waite]

Mike
81 deg F in the boatyard this morning, bloody resin has 10 min pot life! Just bought 10 meters flexible conduit + fittings for £14 on screwfix website now I can get rid of all the spaghetti. May be forced to go jump in the sea later.
George

[Mike]

George

Consider yourself fortunate in having a sea that you would willingly jump into. Where I live, it would be more a case of deciding whether I want to take a mud bath, as you know.

Yup, it's scorching hot and humid out back but, hey, I ain't complaining. I'll work out there when it cools down - and not before. Can't epoxy in this heat unless you're real quick.

In any case, there is F1 and Wimbledon to watch as well as Glastonbury, so I am happy to lay on my settee with a nice cup of char and get square eyes for a change.

Imagine what it's like trying to work with epoxy in the Antipodean summers. Rather them than me, I reckon. Some of 'em use a fridge to keep their epoxy cool and they stick small tools in the freezer so that they don't set up too quickly. What a pain that would be. Me, I will just wait until it gets a bit cooler - and in this part of the world that doesn't usually mean having to wait too long. Days like today usually end up with thunderstorms in a few days time.

How's that beautiful dory of yours coming along? Time for some more pics, methinks.

Regards

[George Waite]

I have used retardents in hotter climes. I can remember the look on the face of an ice-works owner in Bahrein when I told him that I wanted a lot of ice to cool some concrete mix , he was quite agreeable until I told him that we required his total output for the next three days! A few in the Hilton must have gone short of rocks in their Gin!

[Mike]

George

Not sure whether you are suggesting that the said ice-works owner was a retard or that you used ice as a setting retardant agent (retardant with an 'a' rather than an 'e'). :D

Gin being served in an hotel in a Muslim country? My goodness! This must have been in days of yore, surely?

I always enjoy your 'there I was' yarns, mate. How was your swim? I think it's forecast to be even warmer tomorrow. It's time for that dory of yours to be on the water. Cooler in summer and warmer in winter, so they say. Ha ha. :rofl:

Think I may move down your way once I get my bigger boat done. Don't fancy getting Bristol Channel 'goop' on a freshly painted hull.

[George Waite]

Mike
Dont be a pedant or is it pedent? The only country that I have never been able to get a drink in was sordid arabia. As for Bahrein drink is still on sale to non-muslims and their UN ambassador is a Bahrein born Jewish lady. Swim was great and I was in again today at around 5 am the only thing on the beach was me and a friendly seal who was chasing small baitfish up the beach. He actually did me a favour as I caught a few in my towel. You may have to hurry if you want to live down here as it is now rapidly filling up with "week-end squires" from Chelsea and Chiswick etc and a real west country accent is a rare thing.

[Mike]

I am what I am, George, take it or leave it. :SandraR:Geez, I'm beginning to sound just a bit like you, am I not? ;)

Sounds like the early bird catches not the worm but the baitfish on your beach. Swimming at 5:00am seems a bit masochistic to me - unless you were up all night partying, in which case it would make sense. I am far more likely to be up UNTIL 5:00am than getting up at such an unearthly hour. Had far too much of the early bird stuff when I was flying. These days, I enjoy laying in my bed until about 9:00am and staying up into the wee small hours. S'when I get my best work (and thinking) done.

If your area's being filled with that up 'emselves type, I may have to give it a miss and go elsewhere. How does that kind of invasion go down with the locals? Bloody country's going down the gurgler everywhere, it seems. Well, I am definitely not going north - too cold for my liking - so it looks like it will have to be over the Channel somewhere.

[George Waite]

Brittany is your best bet. A few Breton friends tell me to get there before the Parisians do as the natives prefer us (in small doses).

[Mike]

Right, thank you George. I always found the Bretons nice people. Used to hop across there on private flights for weekends. Lovely part of the world with the best kind of folk. That is where I will start looking.

Your breadth of knowledge astounds me, mate. Thanks for that tip.

Are you thinking along similar lines to me, I wonder. Maybe we should start a little boatbuilding commune over there. You can be the Chief Engineer, eh? Waddyareckon?:hotlight:

Regards

[George Waite]

Mike
Thank you for the promotion, always fancied combining a boat yard building traditional craft with a vintage aircraft restoration workshop. I also know that the French government used to give substantial assistance to both types of enterprise.

[Mike]

Well there ya go. We'll have to start doing that in the future. I'm definitely up for both. Can't fly 'em these days but sure would love to help restore 'em if they are a worthy design.

If the French government wants to encourage such things, maybe we could get some help from 'em. That would make a refreshing change. Our leaders seem to do everything in their power to make sure we work all our lives and get no pleasure at all from having done so. Grrr!

[George Waite]

Mike
Interesting point re european assistance. On of my friends down here is married to a Danish lass and the Danish government has funded the Uni costs for all three of their kids.:Fun here, innit:

[jwboatdesigns]

Some parts of the "Antipodes" dont get that hot, or terribly cold for that matter. Where I live we get light frosts, maybe -3 or- 4 deg C, and at the very highest we might get to 28 deg c in mid february. In the shed with its big skylights it gets a bit warm, but slow hardener and spreading the mix out thin around the container means that there are no real problems.
Now in some parts of Aussie, it is a bit different.

John Welsford, Hamilton New Zealand


George

Consider yourself fortunate in having a sea that you would willingly jump into. Where I live, it would be more a case of deciding whether I want to take a mud bath, as you know.

Yup, it's scorching hot and humid out back but, hey, I ain't complaining. I'll work out there when it cools down - and not before. Can't epoxy in this heat unless you're real quick.

In any case, there is F1 and Wimbledon to watch as well as Glastonbury, so I am happy to lay on my settee with a nice cup of char and get square eyes for a change.

Imagine what it's like trying to work with epoxy in the Antipodean summers. Rather them than me, I reckon. Some of 'em use a fridge to keep their epoxy cool and they stick small tools in the freezer so that they don't set up too quickly. What a pain that would be. Me, I will just wait until it gets a bit cooler - and in this part of the world that doesn't usually mean having to wait too long. Days like today usually end up with thunderstorms in a few days time.

How's that beautiful dory of yours coming along? Time for some more pics, methinks.

Regards

[Mike]

Well, yes John. I stand corrected. I was, however, thinking of Australia and not New Zealand when I made that comment. Most parts of Oz get far too hot in summer months for my own liking. And nowhere I lived there actually gets too cold, although Melbournites often complain that it does. I guess Tasmania may have some extremes of temperature too.

It seems to me that New Zealand, with its long north-south stretch, perhaps offers something to suit everyone - from warm in the far north of the north island and cool at the southern end of the south island. At the same time, it seems to offer another big plus in that the population is, shall we say, 'less crowded' than almost anywhere in the UK?

Were it not for my age and the now widening spread and wants of my family, I think I would be joining you there. Still, it doesn't hurt to dream and I often dream of being a Kiwi myself. You are a very fortunate man to be living where you do, that's for sure. :approval:

As to your comments on epoxying in warmer temperatures, your one on spreading the mix thin around the container is a good'un. I do that every time I make up more than three pumps of mixture. It works very well indeed in slowing down the hardening rate sufficiently to allow for a longer 'pot life' and thus more working time.

No need for fridges here in the UK as we virtually live in one during the winter months. :yikes[1]: And our last winter was a reall doosy in that respect. Freezing cold and snow everywhere. Quite unusual - and not ideal for epoxying outdoors.

Regards

[jwboatdesigns]

Something that few people realise is that the southernmost part of New Zealands South Island , thats a town called Bluff, is closer to the Equator than any part of England. That means that snow to sea level anywhere in NZ is almost unheard of, even in the deep south. That plus the fact that its not possible to get any further from the seas than about 80 miles ( if go go any further you start getting closer to it on the other side of the island) means that the seas moderating influence is pervasive, and consequently our climate is quite mild, and does not have the extremes of some of the large land masses.
I can happily do epoxy joints in mid winter, its takes longer to cure and I use fast hardener, and use slow hardener in the summertime.
I'd say our climate is not only good for sailing, its good for wooden boatbuilding as well.

By the way, I've two lines of sugar snap peas up, ( 4 nov --10) and the apple trees are in full bloom.

John Welsford

[Mike]

Right! That did it! Move over, John, we're coming 'down under'. Ha ha. :rofl: